23:2 “You must not follow a crowd 1 in doing evil things; 2 in a lawsuit you must not offer testimony that agrees with a crowd so as to pervert justice, 3
23:6 “You must not turn away justice for your poor people in their lawsuits.
56:5 All day long they cause me trouble; 6
they make a habit of plotting my demise. 7
1:4 For this reason the law lacks power, 8
and justice is never carried out. 9
Indeed, 10 the wicked intimidate 11 the innocent. 12
For this reason justice is perverted. 13
1 tn The word רָבִּים (rabbim), here rendered “crowd,” is also used infrequently to refer to the “mighty,” people of importance in society (Job 35:9; cf. Lev 19:15).
2 tn For any individual to join a group that is bent on acting wickedly would be a violation of the Law and would incur personal responsibility.
3 tn Heb “you will not answer in a lawsuit to turn after the crowd to turn.” The form translated “agrees with” (Heb “to turn after”) is a Qal infinitive construct from נָטָה (natah); the same root is used at the end of the verse but as a Hiphil infinitive construct, “to pervert [justice].”
4 tn Heb “twist, overturn”; NRSV “subverts the cause.”
5 tn Or “innocent”; NRSV “those who are in the right”; NLT “the godly.”
6 tn Heb “my affairs they disturb.” For other instances of דָּבָר (davar) meaning “affairs, business,” see BDB 183 s.v.. The Piel of עָצַב (’atsav, “to hurt”) occurs only here and in Isa 63:10, where it is used of “grieving” (or “offending”) the Lord’s holy Spirit. Here in Ps 56:5, the verb seems to carry the nuance “disturb, upset,” in the sense of “cause trouble.”
7 tn Heb “against me [are] all their thoughts for harm.”
8 tn Heb “the law is numb,” i.e., like a hand that has “fallen asleep” (see Ps 77:2). Cf. NAB “is benumbed”; NIV “is paralyzed.”
9 tn Heb “never goes out.”
10 tn Or “for.”
11 tn Heb “surround” (so NASB, NRSV).
12 tn Or “righteous” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).
13 tn Heb “comes out crooked.”